Teachers.

Daily writing prompt

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

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I have been asked this question many times before. Of course, just like you, I have been in classrooms of various teachers, each one unique with their own methods and experiences, which they affected us and, maybe, influenced us later on in life. Every time I was asked which teacher had been the most influential to me before, I always had a different answer. I can go ahead and list all the teachers that helped me during my school days, but that would be a long list, right? So I will talk about one of them.

I met that particular professor during my first Bachelor studies in English Lit. and Language. He was one of our Linguistics Professor and more specifically, one that taught us about Cultures and Communication skills of theirs as well as Children’s Development. Sure, his lessons were some of my favourites because of the way he taught them, the material he brought and how interesting he made every little note be. He loved his job and I loved studying all the various theories or writing the essays he assigned us every semester. He was a charming man with many funny stories to share from his experiences in teaching or traveling and always loved chatting during our breaks about this and that and what we liked.

But why was he influential to me? To begin with, he was always very kind and understanding. He taught me that I need to be that and patient. When I was bullied, and yes I was bullied, during one year from my classmates (honestly, it’s a fun reason why they bullied me), he was the one that shut them up one day. Of course, I did shut them up eventually myself but there were a lot going on at the first and I could not care much about what they said. He did not put up with it though. On the other hand, that professor helped me see the importance of what he was teaching us. Linguistics in general was never one of my favourites, I loved literature the most, but he made me see how important it was to learn about the cultures of the world, how they communicate, how the children develop and how reading and researching all the theories would be beneficial to me in the future as a teacher. Finally, he was the one that believed in me and my skills and pushed me further down the path of expanding my knowledge on topics and going further in my studies. When I finished with my Bachelor, I was not really happy about the options ahead, but this man, through a small letter at the time, made me see things clearer and make the right choices…

Sometimes, I miss having a chat with that man. It was always something I enjoyed those early mornings. His name is Paul Bouniol.